Golf club



April 1o, 192s. 1,665,523

v E. C. BOYCE GOLF CLUB Filed Jan. 7, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INI 'ENTOR BY' @wn/@L .-1 TTORN E Y.

April 1o, 192s. 1,665,523

, E. C. BOYCE GOLF CLUB Filed Jan. 7, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 7 4- INVENToR. j?? E'a'yo',

ATTORNEYl isf Patented Apr.' 10.1928.

APari-:N

'rl omer..

EDWARD C. BOYCE, F NEW YORXLN. Y.

GOLF CLUB.

Application led January?, 1928. Serial N. 245,123.

My present invention relates to golf clubsv and more particularly to clubs ofthe wood club type. A wood club, is one having a club head usually made of' wood and sometimes weighted, secured to a shaft of wood `or metal; the head is occasionally made of aluminum or other metal but `the club is none the less called a wood club because of its peculiar characteristics and uses.. invention is not limited to the materlal to which the club head is made. is to proyide a single clubv with an adjustable striking face, for the purpose of yarying the loft or inclination of the strlklng ace.

The game of two wood clubs, and many golfers use a third wood club, viz, the spoon, thesethree in addltion to four or more iron clubs. of an adjustable or so-called universal club are/obvious, andthere have been various pro posals made for altering the loft of a single shortened shafts as the-weight decreases..

in balance and weight, and in the length `and Acause it is that it could do the work of a by making a simple adjustment. Among these advantages are decreased cost of clubs, a lighter weight for the golfer or his caddie tocarry,^etc., but to the best of my knowledge no adjustable clubs have gone into extensive use beca-use of fundamental structural, etc., defects.

Adjustable iron clubs posed arejscarcely feasible, ers generally concede that the iron clubs, generally speaking, should bel p11-ogressively heavier as the loft' decreases, and should be provided with progressively golf club so number of clubs,

However, there is no inherent' objection to a universal club designed to replace the clubs above mentioned, -be-A three wood generally agreed that any given golf players driver 'and brass'ie 'shouldbe identical in all respects except loft. The

spoon. which ismore lofted than the'brassie, usually has a `slightly shorter shaft, and a 4club head which is a triie'heavier, but'the differences, except in loft, are too trivial to be-of real importanceto any but the most expert olf players. Now, a set `of wood clubs w ich-arematchedl (i. e. rendered identical,with the exceptions just noted,-

My purposev been proposed to make golf is usually played with' the driver and the brassie;4

The advantages; elements,

a set of `interchangeable faces as heretofore proheel-heavy and toe-light: compensation by weighting the toe is not practicable because then the whole club is too clubs less expensive by providing'an adjustable club of the wood -club type in which the shaft is fixed permanently to a solid club head, thus avoiding the unsatisfactory joint between these two the adjustability of the striking face being obtained by the use of three or more removable elements received in recesses heavy. It has also l nsV 1n the club head, these elements having ballstriking surfaces of different lofts. This proposal, however, has the obvious disadvantage of'requiring the golf play or plates/with the conse t and the post uent increased weig sibihty o losing one or more.

sertion and removal of these intere an cablel plates tends to wear away the materlal of which the club head is made,

and resultmg in a loose -fit between the head' and the face secured thereto. A In accordance with my present invention the club head, which is preferably secured permanently and -fixedly to the shaft, supports a member or semi-cyclindrical roller which has a surface constituting a ball-striking faceysaid member being movably or rotatably mounted in the head'for varying the loft of the club, and means being rovided for holding said member or semi-cy indrical roller in any one of a number of predetermined positions of adjustment. I prefer that these positions be predetermined and that the structure be such that` the face of the club cannot be tion of adjustment than those provided. Thismakes ertheless, it is within ically for uniformity. [Nevtheseope of my iner to carry of the detach- .able plates. Furthermore the re cated inselected or held in any other posiy 45 4 other sole plate 2` is formed with a semi;

cylindrical seat and view . tightened vention so to construct the club that the player may set the face at `any angle desired within the range. of adjustment provided. The semi-cylindrical member fits in a recess of corresponding shape in the head, and has a plate secured to it, which provides the ball-striking face of the club, and I prefer to provide the roller and therecess with grooves and slots so that the roller willbe incapable of moving in the recess otherwise than in amovement of rotation. VA rod extending rearwardly from the assembled roller and plate, through a slot bored through the club head, passes out at the rear of the club head to receive a nut, which can be against the rear surface of the club head to pull the roller firmlyagainst its hold it in the chosen position of adjustment. These and other characteristics of the invention, the scope of which will 4be indicated in the appended statement of claim, will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings,`wherein:

Fig. 1 is a face v-iew of'a club embodying minvention.

ig. 2 is a top plan view of the club.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionthereof, from front to rear.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental, detail sectional on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a erspective view of the roller with the striking face removed. a

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the striking face, and also shows one ofthe screws for securing it to the roller.

Fig. 7 is an enlar ed assembly view ing the plate, provi head, and the cooperating thumb nut.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectionY of the rear part of the club head, showing a modification. -v

Fig. 9 is a section of a'modified roller.

The'club head 1, which may or may not have a conventional brass, aluminum or show'- 3,/ in its face. The recess cylindrical recess 3 receives a semi-cylindrical roller 4, each strong metal or alloy 9v of brass or the like.

` should `engagethe ball,

end of which has a circularly curved projection 5, fitting in a groove 6'at each end o the recess. The roller may be made of 'an ,induratediibrous compound, or of a light, such as duralumin. c

A'striking face 7 is adapted to be secured to the roller 4 by screwsl 8, and-'the ends of the striking face extend beyond the end s of the roller. Thislface is preferably provlded with a shallow recess 48 to receive a pl 4 This plate may have Aany of the conventionalshapes used in 4golf clubs to mark the pointon theface which i. e. to mark the sweet spot; the drawing shows. the well known star design. A sleeve 10, is formed as an integral: extension ofthe plate `9 and the rear surface of the latter. the face of the club head is not only recessed at 3 to receive fm tial thickness,

' erably .from the recess 3 is threaded lto receive a t ed at the rear of the club,

f the rod 13j to `but they prevent vertical movementd of `a :put under tension by ate:

' what simplified rstructure, cutting out the plate passes through aligned openings 11 in the' striking face and the roller, terminating at It is to be understoodfthat the roller, but is also slightly cut away beyond the ends of the recess to provide spa within which the striking face may move vary the loft. The cut awaysurfaces are4 shown-in section at 12 in Fig. 4. Thus the, 'i

ends of the striking plate 7, beyond the ends of the roller, have no solid support behind them. However, 4the plate 7 is vof substanand it is preferred to makev this plate ofivory, or of artificial' ivory such as ivoride, which has been found to be more than strong enough to withstandthe stress of the most powerful blow lthat can be delivered at its ends. Moreover a good ,golf playerA almost invariably strikes the ball with the center of the club face. p

The sleeve 10 is interiorly threaded and receives `the threaded end of a rod 13, prefof hardened steel. This rod extends through `a slot 14 cutl through the club head to a recess or vetieal groove 15 cut out of the rear surface of the club. A plate 16 is secured against the base of the groove 15 and has an opening 17 in register with the'slot 14. VThe rod 13 projects through the opening 17, and its'end umb nut or the like 18. By tightening this nut against the plate 16, the striking. plate 7 may be locked at any desired degree of loft within the range of the club, Fig. 3 showing the pitch of a spoon. The range of loft variationis not great, the difference between the two extremes (driver and spoon)l rarely exceeding ten degrees. The threads at the rear en of the rod 13 are pitched oppositely ,to those at' the forward end. The plate 16 hasa cap 19which preserves the normal contour of the club head andconceals the mechanical elemeiigs beneath'it;

is referred to,` providethe opposite side Wal s of the slot fl'( with juxtaposed, inward projections`20. The tips of 'these projections are far enough apart-to 'permit move vertically between them,

sleeve 21 provided on the nut 18.` Thus, when the nut is tightened on the* rod, the sleeve 21 will lpositively hold the rod 13, from moving up or down, and the rod the pressure .created between the surface of `the plate 16 and a shoulder 22 on the nut. i

In Fig. 8 is shown a modified and sdmein which, when. 1 the recess or groove 15, the upper portion 'of the club head above the top :of theo plate 16 was'le'ft'intact. .Therefore the 4cap 19 is omitted from the plate ).6, and f terminates short of the top sur- 1 y to .t-hat if the nut vcould not get out of its recess.

e. g. one of duralumin, to avoid faceof the club head. In this way, the club` head, viewed from above, has exactly or almost exactly the same appearance as'the Ordinar club head.

In' Fig. 9, the plate 7 terminates 'a little shortof the bottom of the roller 4, and the material of which the' roller is (in this tended forwardly to form a lower lip 23, which protects the plate 7 when-the club strikes the ground. Various modifications may be madefin the structures described without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims. For instance, the slot 1 4 might be' continued downwardly until it opens on the sole ofthe club. The rod 13 could then be vintegral with or permanently secured to thesleeve -10, 'and the roller and rod together could begrolled into the recess3 by "entering the bottom of the recess, whereafter-the'sole plate 2 could be secured in place. Thereupon, the plate 16 could be attached, and the parts. would be permanently kept in assembly.-

Also, the late 16 may be curved about the center o curvature ofthe recess 3, instead of being vertical,- as shown. This would be desirable in the case of a club not designed to have only positions of adjustment, but capablepf belng set at any position within the range of adjustment. s'

The cooperating vprojections 5 and grooves 6' make it impossible .to put the roller into the recess except by rotary movement, so

composed,

If desired, the recessed and cut-away parts of the club head, when the latter is -made vof wood, may be lined with a metallic lining,

the provis1on of a thin wooden knife-edge at the top of the club head, which 2edge mi ht be broken as a result of an inaccurate s ot.

' 1. A golf club of the wood club type, having a head secured supported by the head and havin a surface constituting a striking face, said member being mounted in the head for 4angular movement. thereintO 'vary' the loft of the club, and means for holding said member in selected positions of adjustment.

' `cured to a shaft, a

`holding said 2. A golf club of the wood club type having a head permanently and lixedly sehead and having a surface constituting a said member being mounted to vary the loft of the club, and means for member in predetermined positions of adjustment.

3. A golf club as claimed in claim 1, in

' prises 4an element whichl t case preferably duralumin) -is ex- Vthree predeterminedi threaded on to a shaft,I a. member..

member supported by thev which the movably'mounted member con1- having a semi-cylindrical surface fitting in a recess in the head, and a plate secured to the -said element, and forming the face of the lclub.

, 4. A. "olf club as claimed in claim 2, in

lie movably mounted member compris-es an element having ay semi-cylindrical surface fitting in a? recess in the head, and a plate secured to the ing the face ofthe club.

5. A golfclub as claimed in claim 1, in which the vhead has arecess for the movably mounted member, and said member andthe recessed surface in the club head have cooperating means adapted toprevent Vsaid member from moving otherwise than -in a `movement o f rotation.

6. Agolf club as claimed in claim 2,*in which the head has a recess for the movably mounted member, and said member and the recessed surface in the club head have cooperating means adapted to prevent said mem er from moving otherwisev than in a movement of rotation.

7. A golf club of the wood club type', having a head, a member having a ball-striking surface, and rotatably supportedby the head, said member being adapted to be set at and held in selected positions of adjustment, a rod secured to the rotatably mounted member and projecting rearwardly through an opening in the club head, a screw nut the rear end of the rod, and means on the rear face of theclub head to be engaged by the nut.

18 Should be 10st, 'the I'Ollelf` 8. A golf clubA as claimed in clainr?, in

ybe Withdrawn from the plate secured to the rear face of the club head, said nut having v a sleeve partl adapted to be locked against vertical movement in -the slot when the nut is tightened on the rod. Y

9. A-golf club ofthe wood club type having a shaft, a head secured' to the shaft,

the club head, said member having a vballstrikin face whose loft is varied by rotary a justment of the 'rotatably mounted member, said member being composed of a -plate and a semi-cylindrical element secured thereto, the plate having a recess and being provided with a vperforation aligned with a similar perforation extending through the semi-cylindrical element, a headed part being fitted-:in the recess and having a rear-, ward extension extending into the perforation in the semi-cylindrical element, and a rod secured to the rearward extension and extending through an, opening in the club said element, and formla member rotatably mounted in a recess in head :for adjusting the angular position of themi-cylindrical element. l 4

10. A gold clubes claimed in claim 1,

wherein the movaoly mounted member in-v 5 eludes a semi-cylindrical roller and a, striking face, said roller having a forward prol jection to underlie and protect the lower edgeof the striking face.

11. A golfclub as claimed in claim 2,

10 wherein the movably mounted memberin' cludes a semi-cylindrical roller and a strik- I ture.,

ing face, said roller having a forward projection to underlie and protect the lower edge of the striking face. 12. A golf club as claimed in claim `7, in 15 which the upper surface of the club hea-d is extended rearwardly to overlie the nut on the rear end of the rod.

In testimony whereof I aix my signa EDWARD C. BOYCE. 

